IMMIGRANTS are using “proxy” marriages they do not even have to attend to bypass tough UK visa laws, an official watchdog has discovered.

Neither the bride or groom are required to be present at the sham weddings [GETTY/PIC POSED BY MODELS]

The sham weddings allow an EU citizen to marry another person in a ceremony outside the EU at which neither the bride or groom are required to be present.

Instead, stand-ins take “vows” on their behalf – and a marriage certificate is issued which can then be used in Britain to win residency rights for a non-European spouse.

A report by the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration said the ceremonies – legal in countries such as Nigeria, Ghana and Brazil – are becoming increasingly common in immigration applications.

The Home Office, which accepts the proxy certificates if ceremonies are conducted properly, found in a spot check last year they made up almost one in five marriage papers submitted.

Borders Inspector John Vine looked at 29 proxy couples and found that 24 were refused on the basis that the marriages were invalid.

Proxy weddings allow stand-ins to take vows in the place of the couple [GETTY]

If the Home Office does not act decisively to identify and tackle these abuses, many of the individuals involved may go on to obtain settlement in the UK

John Vine, border inspector

He has criticised the Home Office for failing to clamp down on the bogus weddings, but Whitehall officials hit back, saying the number of sham marriages they discovered had more than doubled over the past year.

In his report, published yesterday, Mr Vine found that 36 per cent of European nationals applying to stay in this country were born outside the EU and had gained European nationality before arriving in Britain.

A massive backlog meant cases did not all receive proper scrutiny, he said. One case showed immigration officers raised suspicions about a marriage between a Pakistani man and a Lithuanian woman but handed the groom a residence card without a full interview.

Mr Vine said: “I found significant attempted abuse by non-EEA (European Economic Area) nationals applying on the basis of marriage or civil partnership with a European citizen.

“If the Home Office does not act decisively to identify and tackle these abuses, many of the individuals involved may go on to obtain settlement in the UK.”

He said the findings suggest European citizenship is an “increasingly important way into the UK”.

Alp Mehmet of Migration Watch said there was “significant abuse” of the EU citizenship route into Britain, and Ukip’s Gerard Batten said: “Of course the EU’s free movement system is open to widespread abuse. EU citizenship should not give anyone the unlimited right of entry to the UK.”

New rules mean EU citizens involved in bogus marriages can be kicked out, but Mr Vine said that while crime gangs were being prosecuted there was “no effective sanction” to deter individuals.

In a sample of non-Europeans, whose applications were refused 43 out of 60 made repeat applications or appealed, meaning they could not be removed from the UK.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We are taking ever tougher action to crack down on those who try to cheat our immigration system by abusing marriage laws. Last year, we intervened in more than 1,300 sham marriages – more than double that of the previous year.”